Keira Knightley may not be known for her feminist activism, but her new comments on a recent topless photo shoot serve as a public political statement in the name of anti-body shaming.
This past August, Knightley posed topless for Interview magazine with her own personal twist. Tired of the media’s digital enhancement to her chest, the actress made it clear that her photo shoot with Interview would be different. She stated, “That was one of the ones where I said: ‘OK, I’m fine doing the topless shot so long as you don’t make them any bigger or retouch.’”
The fact that anyone would retouch a picture of the truly beautiful (and seemingly perfect) Knightley truly displays how far the media will go to create the perfect woman.
The perfect woman can’t be too skinny but she can’t be too curvy either. And on top of that, she has to have around a C-cup chest, as anything too small or too big isn’t sexy. Only something made of plastic could fulfill all those requirements.
Rather than dolling up like a model or posing to make herself look more desirable, Knightley chose to appear all natural — topless with barely any makeup, wet hair and looking completely relaxed.
Knightley went on to justify her reasoning for the shots in stating, “ …it does feel important to say it really doesn’t matter what shape you are … I think women’s bodies are a battleground and photography is partly to blame … Our society is so photographic now, it becomes more difficult to see all of those different varieties of shape.”
And for that, Knightley is a true role model for women everywhere. Rather than doing a sexy, porno-esque photo shoot to further her own status as a sex symbol, the actress took this opportunity to make a statement about what is truly beautiful — embracing who you are, faults and all. By posing topless, the actress owns and takes control of her own sexuality, rather than letting it be controlled by the standards of the media or dictated by anyone else.
Why can’t more females in Hollywood use these types of occasions to further advocate anti-body shaming? It seems like the idolization of sex and obtaining that perfectly desirable body is so entrenched in our society that these celebrities would rather be praised for that than taking a stand for what’s right.
This tendency is embodied perfectly in Kim Kardashian’s outrageous butt-centric Paper magazine photos, where her purpose was to “break the Internet.” Her nude photos are being discussed more than Knightley’s Interview statement pieces. That’s telling about our society’s values.
These women, and their actions, have such a strong impact on the young people who look up to them. Doing something as simple as praising our body’s different shapes can speak volumes to an impressionable generation.
Kudos to you, Keira.